Nanoporous materials, having a large specific surface area and uniform nanopores, can be used in various applications, including catalysts, adsorbents, electrode materials, and materials for separation and purification [see Corma, A. Chem. Rev., 1997, 97, 2373]. Typical methods for synthesizing porous carbon materials include the following: (1) subjecting carbon to a chemical activation process, a physical activation process or a combination thereof; (2) activating a carbon precursor with a metal catalyst or an organometallic catalyst; (3) blending a pyrolytic polymer with a carbonizing polymer and carbonizing the blend; (4) carbonizing an aerogel polymer synthesized in supercritical drying conditions.
Recently, methods of synthesizing carbon materials using inorganic templates have been reported by many research groups, and a general method of preparing porous carbon particles using templates is as follows. Specifically, this method comprises forming a template/carbon precursor composite in the liquid state, carbonizing the carbon precursor through heat treatment, and then removing the template. This template synthesis method has an advantage in that it is easy to introduce pores into carbon, but the method has problems in that it is difficult to prepare the template, and the process is complicated and time-consuming. Particularly, if the uniform mixing of the carbon precursor with the template in the liquid state is not achieved, pore structures in the resulting porous carbon particles cannot be uniform, and a desired pore size and shape cannot be obtained. Also, in order to apply the porous carbon particles as products, additional steps, including crushing, grinding and agglomeration, are required. For this reason, in the art, there is a need to develop a novel preparation method which minimizes the time, cost and preparation steps required in the preparation process.